Lebo said when she called the district transportation office, she was told that they are “rostering” buses for 72 students per bus.

She said according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, school buses can fit three students per seat in younger grades, but NHTSA recommends no more than two per seat from seventh grade through high school. That would bring the number per bus down to 48.

But federal regulations does not specify the number of people who can sit on a school bus seat.

According to the NHTSA website, “School transportation providers generally determine the number of people they can safely fit into a school bus seat. Generally, they fit three smaller elementary school students or two adult high school students into a typical 39-inch school bus seat.”

After complaining to the transportation office, Lebo said she was told 13 students were taken off that bus, which picks up on Short Hill Lane, so the numbers should be fine. After the board meeting, she said her son’s bus is less crowded now, but that’s partly because other students were being driven to school by their parents.

“One day unsafe on the bus is one day too many,” Lebo said.

She was also concerned about a bus stop on Blue Barn Road where she counted 32 students getting on a school bus at one stop.

“First of all, that’s crazy,” she said. “You’re putting 32 students out on Blue Barn Road at 7 o’clock in the morning and not anticipating problems. Why don’t we break up that bus stop?”

“Let’s think about their safety,” she said. “Imagine a car coming down Blue Barn that loses control and you’ve got 32 students standing there.”

Superintendent Richard Sniscak said Director of School Services David Keppel is already looking into the bus-crowding issue.

Last February, Parkland had a fire at its bus depot that destroyed 16 buses and the pole barn that housed them. But those buses have been replaced and the district added some to accommodate a growing student population, Sniscak said.

He said Parkland tries to “fully roster buses but you never know how many kids are going to show up on a daily basis.”

“They use this information to help balance buses,” he said. “Nobody wants kids sitting in the aisles or anything like that.”

According to Parkland’s website, the district transports more than 10,000 students each morning and afternoon on about 150 buses and other school vehicles. The district is 72 square miles and takes students to 11 Parkland schools and over 30 nonpublic schools or special needs programs.

Parkland is among several area districts on the receiving end of parental complaints about bus overcrowding. Others include Northwestern Lehigh, where parents also are upset over bus rides that last more than an hour, and Bethlehem Area, which is seeking outside help to transport students to public, private and charter schools every morning.